I HATE paying Council Tax. It's the bill I hate the most.

[flashbac]

Council Tax is regressive and unfair.

It takes more money from lower income individuals.

It has no link to the actual value of a property.

In addition to linking council tax to value, the bands also need to increase in range in order to reflect the vast difference in property values.

How can it be right that a million pound property in Westminster is the same or (often lower) CT rate than a 2 up, 2 down house in Yorkshire?

Do you mind me asking What is council tax for?? I'm not in the U.K.

This government love regressive taxes

It contributes to lots of local services (refuse collection, transport etc) but a huge chunk is social care.

Please post proof of the London v Yorkshire tax difference , never heard that one.

I live in the most expensive CT area in my county. I'm also certain we are incorrectly banded (too high) but can't get the proof of house sales from the relevant dates.

Its ridiculous they put you in a band thats decided from the price of your house in 1995 or something similar

I’m also extremely curious about the mansion v 2 up 2 down. Do you have a link to this?

How can it be right that a million pound property in Westminster is the same or (often lower) CT rate than a 2 up, 2 down house in Yorkshire?

Volume of properties, bandings not keeping up with values.

Please post proof of the London v Yorkshire tax difference , never heard that one.

Westminster is well known for having some of the cheapest council tax rates in England and Wales. Has been for years. It’s an absolute bargain.

Scottish council tax is eye watering. We pay £4K plus.

And no, the services aren’t great for that.

Yanbu. It needs a massive overhaul.

Do you still pay council tax if you are unemployed?

Westminster has stupidly low CT rates, and twice weekly bin collections; they don't however have huge overhead costs for things like social care needs and schools.

Agreed but mainly because our council is shit.

Ranked lowest for schools in Scotland, a lot of them with a poor rating and are deteriorating quickly, services constantly being closed (they even shut off some of the play parks as fixing them is too much effort), they don't fix the roads, they don't tidy up the road sides, the hospitals are shit and barely get any funding other than to just struggle on. I took an average of how much council tax they must get and it'd around 30million, but it will be more than that. To just get bins emptied. Some fucking expensive bins... Not like they do actual recycling either, it all just goes in the same pile in the end. Got to love the snp eh?

Don't want to pay it, but have to, and it will get increased next year I bet. The fools around here keep voting them in though, I think they just love handing over what little money they have.

@wedwewerpink yes but you can get a discount on it as well.

I live in a small terraced house and earn 12k a year.

My brother is in a 4 bed detached and earns 60k.

We pay the same.

@PinkFootstool You can look up council tax rates online. Westminster residents pay far less than those in, for example, Sheffield.

www.westminster.gov.uk/council-tax/check-your-council-tax-band-and-charges
www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/council-tax/check-council-tax-band

@PinkFootstool

Please post proof of the London v Yorkshire tax difference , never heard that one.

I live in the most expensive CT area in my county. I'm also certain we are incorrectly banded (too high) but can't get the proof of house sales from the relevant dates.

Council tax rates and bands for Westminster: www.westminster.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/WCC%20Council%20Tax%20Guide%202020-21.pdf

I live in a 2 up 2 down miners terrace in a poor area of Wales, the house was valued at 90k when I bought it back in Jan 2020. I pay £1720 a year in council tax (Carmarthenshire CT rates
www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-services/council-tax/council-tax-bands/#.YUBgCcB4UWM ) which is nearly £100 a year more than the highest Westminster CT band, and my home is only in band D in my area.

How can it be right that a million pound property in Westminster is the same or (often lower) CT rate than a 2 up, 2 down house in Yorkshire?

I try to look on it as a charge for services provided - garbage removal, tree maintenance, parks, libraries, some aspects of housing and social care etc. In which case the residents of the two-up-two-down (and me) may actually get more bang for their buck.

@PinkFootstool

Please post proof of the London v Yorkshire tax difference , never heard that one.

I live in the most expensive CT area in my county. I'm also certain we are incorrectly banded (too high) but can't get the proof of house sales from the relevant dates.

Many London Boroughs have famously low council tax, Wandsworth is one. It might not be as much as the bandings suggest, because I assume that there's far more band A properties in cheaper areas, but still.

In Leeds, a Band C council tax is £1600 plus parish charges.

In Wandsworth it is £750 pa. I don't know if there's parish charges on top, but that's less than half.

Westminster is a similar amount.

I always assumed it was something to do with the higher population density meaning that charges were shared out amongst more people, but there could also be other reasons.

I hate the water rates. I mean I pay it and everything but I resent paying for something that falls from the sky.

I live in a flat. If it wasn't the fact the freeholders have not requested the ground rent for the past 20 years, I'd resent paying that. It's such an archaic system. As it is I'm resenting the thought it's going to cost me mega £££ to sort the lease out if I ever want to sell my flat.

Cross posted with several others.

@flashbac thanks, in Ireland we don't pay council tax but we have a bit that is taken out with tax for the same reasons. (Except for waste we pay ourselves) so in theory if you don't earn you don't pay.

It is ridiculous that we are taxed on the value of our property in 1991 but I'm old enough to remember poll tax/community charge where every adult in the house had to pay, and vaguely remember rates before that. It's always been a flawed system.

I pay £211 a month in London and it doesn't seem extortionate to me. This morning my council collected my old bathroom suite for free in addition to many other services.

@PersonaNonGarter

Scottish council tax is eye watering. We pay £4K plus.

And no, the services aren’t great for that.

I'm not agreeing with high CT charges, but it's fair to note that in Scotland, CT also includes water & sewerage charges, paid by each LA to Scottish Water.

@PinkFootstool

Example from that video:

£30 million Westminster property with private lift - £1508
£127,000 property in Peterlee (where is that?)- £1702

My £400k 2 bed flat- £1,511.99
My friend in Yorkshire whose terrace is worth probably 25% of my flat pays £200 more than me.

@Gemma2019

It is ridiculous that we are taxed on the value of our property in 1991 but I'm old enough to remember poll tax/community charge where every adult in the house had to pay, and vaguely remember rates before that. It's always been a flawed system.

I pay £211 a month in London and it doesn't seem extortionate to me. This morning my council collected my old bathroom suite for free in addition to many other services.

They did that for free? We have to pay extra here for that, or more likely for skip hire.